Last month, Microsoft released a few updates for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 21, while also revealing its plans for the next major release, SSMS 22. This follows the release of a SQL Server 2025 preview last year, which notably offers native vector data support for faster performance, especially in AI workloads.
Speaking of AI, Microsoft is now introducing support for GitHub Copilot in SSMS 22 Preview 3. Just like the existing Visual Studio integration, this AI assistant will help you write better code, faster. It will also be able to answer questions about your database. You can add GitHub Copilot to your SSMS workspace by selecting AI Assistance from the Workloads tab.
Microsoft has explained that GitHub Copilot has full knowledge of your database and your connection after it has been connected through the editor window. This means that you can create new connections to different databases and integrate a separate Copilot with a different context there, too. You"ll be able to ask questions about the database or ask GitHub Copilot to help you write T-SQL, and it should be able to facilitate you while being context-aware.
While GitHub Copilot is a very powerful tool overall, keep in mind that it does not support code auto-completion functionality in SSMS yet. This is because Microsoft prioritized integrating the AI assistance into SSMS first in this preview release, and is targeting the addition of more features incrementally in the next few updates. Other limitations of GitHub Copilot in SSMS include:
- GitHub Copilot in SSMS doesn"t currently support code completions in the query editor.
- GitHub Copilot might produce inaccurate results when the intent is to evaluate data.
- GitHub Copilot responses can include inaccurate or low-quality content, so review outputs before using them in your work.
- People who can meaningfully evaluate the content"s accuracy and appropriateness should review the outputs.
- GitHub Copilot in SSMS doesn"t currently support selecting a different model.
- GitHub Copilot doesn"t currently support exporting the chat.
- GitHub Copilot doesn"t currently support Agent mode.
As expected, GitHub Copilot in SSMS requires you to have a license for the AI assistance. It is only supported in SSMS 22, with no plans to backport it to SSMS 21.